Thursday, December 31, 2015

Poetry Friday: The Hours

The year of the earthquake, a friend sent me this book, A Flame of Faith, by Hazel Littlefield, published in 1972, for my birthday.  It's signed by the author for a friend called Amy, and Hazel wishes for Amy "that all her days may be filled with loyal friendships of loyal friends, happy work, good health, courage."  These seem excellent wishes for the new year. 

Here is one of the poems from the book.

The Hours

Shout with assurance to the morning skies,
"The Lord of all creation made me too,
And all my need abundantly supplies;
This day is mine and I shall live it through
Delighting in the gift of every hour;
Not doomed with dullness nor with fear of death,
But life unfolding like a sun-drenched flower
Suffused with the Divine, the Living Breath."

The hours bloom and wither and are tossed,
Uncounted, into swirling centuries,
Like myriad stars in mighty galaxies,
Merged in a brighter whole but never lost.
Time, unrelenting, plucks them one by one;
Breathe while you may their sweetness in the sun.

Hazel Littlefield

Mary Lee has the first roundup of 2016.

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

What I Read in 2015

Here are links to my posts about the books I read this year.  I didn't write many reviews this year, so mostly this is just a list of titles.

Books 1-4
Books 5-11 (post includes reviews)
Books 12-21
Books 22-34 (post includes reviews)
Books 35-38 (post includes reviews)
Books 39-45 (post includes reviews)
Books 46-62
Books 63-68

I don't think I'll be finishing any more books this year.  Here's the last Reading Update:

Book #69 of the year was Shades of Milk and Honey, by Mary Robinette Kowal
Book #70 was Comfort Ye My People: The Real World Meets Handel's Messiah, 26 Readings for Advent, by Kay Bruner
Book #71 was The Paris Wife, by Paula McLain
Book #72 was Wearing God: Clothing, Laughter, Fire, and Other Overlooked Ways of Meeting God, by Lauren Winner
Book #73 was Rising Strong, by Brene Brown
Book #74 was Eat Pray Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert
Book #75 was Room, by Emma Donoghue

I usually aim to finish about one book a week, so I was a bit over that this year.  I'm enjoying reading other people's end of the year book lists and collecting suggestions for next year.

Speaking of booklists, this post is linked to the January 2nd 2016 Saturday Review of Books.  Lots of bloggers are linking their lists for 2015.  Check it out here.

Friday, December 25, 2015

Poetry Friday

My daughter posted this Tweet on my Facebook wall yesterday.


It has, indeed, been a tough year.  One of the things that helped a lot was poetry, reading and writing it.  I don't have a poem to share today, but I hope after Christmas dinner to have time to come back and read some of the poems posted in today's roundup.  And then there's the traditional post-Christmas beach trip to continue the cheer.  See you in 2016!

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

OLW 2015

In 2015, my One Little Word was "unafraid."  I didn't do very well with being unafraid.  In fact, I was frequently afraid.  In May, I updated relatively positively on my progress in this post.  After that, things got worse.  I feared loss and grief, and then it happened, and I muddled through as best I could.  Now I'm hoping 2016 is better, and considering what my OLW will be.

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Reading Update

Book #63 of the year was Because We Are, by Ted Oswald
Book #64 was Saint Anything, by Sarah Dessen
Book #65 was Armada, by Ernest Cline
Book #66 was Winter, by Marissa Meyer
Book #67 was Out of Sorts: Making Peace with an Evolving Faith, by Sarah Bessey
Book #68 was Lila, by Marilynne Robinson

Friday, December 11, 2015

Poetry Friday: Real?

I love this poem and how it plays with what is "real" and what is "invented" in poetry, and writing in general.  The emotion, yeah, it's all real.  The details might be changed a bit, here and there.

Are All the Break-Ups in Your Poems Real?  

by Aimee Nezhukumatathil

 
If by real you mean as real as a shark tooth stuck
in your heel, the wetness of a finished lollipop stick,
the surprise of a thumbtack in your purse—
then Yes, every last page is true, every nuance,
bit, and bite. Wait. I have made them up—all of them—
and when I say I am married, it means I married
all of them, a whole neighborhood of past loves.